The present invention relates generally to small animal traps, and more specifically to a low cost device with structure and function based on habits and behaviors of rats and mice.
The destructive nature of certain old world rats and mice is well known. While one such creature may disrupt a home, the effect of numbers of these animals in the world at large, as they spread disease and compete with man for food, may be considered an ongoing natural disaster, and in fact, conditions which follow a disaster or which exist in areas of poverty are often advantageous for rapid growth in populations of such rodents, further adding to the burden of a community when it is least able to afford effective measures of control. Also, industries which entail the production or storage of food suffer large annual losses to these animals, so must wage efforts against increases in their populations. Though a number of means are used to control rats and mice, situations exist when trapping by single traps is the preferable method and in these situations a need for the most generally efficient means is clear.
Many forms and improvements of devices designed to catch rats and mice have been offered in prior art, yet it seems that no single device extant embodies all the advantages necessary for a high degree of success in a wide range of applications. The disadvantages of prior art inventions are generally shared by like members of their type and may be addressed by examining those types.
Traps that are designed to capture by imprisoning, including those devices known as live traps as well as some that are adapted to kill, must be larger than the animal and therefore are bulky. To hold rats and mice, such traps must also be constructed of material resistant to gnawing, adding to the cost of manufacture. As to effectiveness, such traps require of the animal a full commitment of its body to an enclosure. To overcome caution on the part of the animal, such traps use a bait, usually placed near the back of the trap, as a lure. Often, and especially when food is readily available elsewhere, this is not sufficient inducement. Generally, imprisoning traps do not sufficiently entice the animal.
Traps that are designed to capture by gripping, particularly those which are intended to grip the leg, are not efficient when applied to an animal which may affect release by gnawing. Furthermore, in past years, public awareness of the pain caused by such traps has created an aversion to their use and a call for devices which are more humane. The disadvantage of prior traps that grip and the reason they cause pain is that the pressure such devices generate is fixed by the amount of energy transmitted to a jaw or set of jaws by a spring. Also, these traps must spring or snap shut quickly to catch a quick animal. This holding pressure, therefore, is established at a maximum level and usually causes injury.
Generically termed humane traps, are devices designed to end suffering by killing quickly. The force require to kill being greater than that required to catch and hold an animal, such traps need greater structural strength in all their elements to contain and utilize this energy. Greater energy is required in the manufacture of said elements. Therefore, such traps are overly expensive for the task they perform. When the processes of pest control comprise trapping, destruction, and disposal of numerous animals, greater efficiency may be had by combining the processes of destruction and disposal than by imparting to each trap the power to kill. The most ubiquitous device for the purpose of catching rats and mice is of the killing type, and while this particular form has been a model of cost efficiency, requiring neither machining nor exact fitting of parts for construction, and while it provides for a degree of success, it remains inefficient when applied to large scale trapping and an examination of this trap's disadvantages may serve to illustrate the limitations of all such devices.
The most common mouse trap offers a bait attached to a device which in form is mostly mechanical and not, in itself, of use or interest to the animal and which provides no advantage when other food is available. In this way, the design of said trap does not serve to attract the animal. Furthermore, the bait is attached to a mechanical element of the device in such a way that, in order to activate the mechanism of this trap, an animal must move the element while eating the bait. An animal may, however, eat or remove the bait without activating the trap, and the phenomenon of having the bait stolen is not unknown. In this way, the design of the trap does not serve directly to cause an animal to activate said mechanism. Also, though the intent of the common mouse trap is to quickly kill the mouse, in practice this goal is achieved less than one hundred percent of the time. Since a striker must move through a long arc before contacting the animal, said animal may react quickly enough to remove itself from the effective range of the trap. Further, though the most effective killing area is limited to a few degrees, the design of this trap allows an approach to the bait from any direction. The design does not position animals for consistent results. Further, as the triggering mechanism relies on a precariously balanced member, deftness and caution are required in the baiting and setting of this trap, limiting the number of traps that may be set in a given amount of time. Also, said trap, especially in the size designed for rats, represents a hazard to children and non-target animals and, although lighter and more compact than most live traps, devices that by design kill or injure the animal are of no use to the worker in the field who wishes to capture and release animals for the purpose of scientific study. Finally, whether for reasons concerning sanitation or for convenience, common mouse traps and more expensive devices, as well, are often discarded after a single use. In the interests of economy and conservation a device which may be used as disposable should consist of as little material and represent as little investment as possible.